Two things everyone on the Internet just loves to talk about because there’s usually some controversy surrounding the subjects have just combined into one juicy story just perfect for the World Wide Web: Someone just bought a Tesla Model S and used Bitcoin to pay for it.

Yes, the Internet currency that is mysterious and much discussed (and perhaps not entirely AOK with the U.S. government, which, along with other countries and banks around the world seems worried about fraud) has been used to make a pretty big real world purchase.

The Daily Dot says a customer at a car dealership in Newport Beach shelled out 91.4 Bitcoins. The going rate right now is 1 Bitcoin for about $835 in U.S. money. The buyer delivered the dough via a payment service called Bitpay, and no cash exchanged hands whatsoever.

“Lamborghini Newport Beach is proud to announce that we are fully capable of accepting Bitcoin as legal tender for vehicles,” the dealership proclaimed on its blog. “We are excited to opening the door to this new currency.”

So far this seems to be the first car that the dealership has sold for Bitcoins, but it would appear that anyone with a stockpile of the currency could buy whichever model is for sale. Because yes, there are people in the world who can afford Lamborghinis while I still need to get a new transit pass.

Meanwhile, somewhere Elon Musk is probably doing a celebratory dance and some fist-pumping, chanting, “They like my car, they really like my car!”

There’s a very simple way to stop wasting food and spend less money on food as well. Save money by using just a few magnets, you say? How does that work? It’s simple: attach your grocery receipts to the refrigerator. You can use them as an inventory, a checklist, and a reminder of what you’ve purchased and really ought to eat up.

A bulletin board will have to do if you have a stainless steel fridge that doesn’t accept magnets, but the general idea is the same. Over at Money Saving Enthusiast, Karen explains her method for keeping track of food that requires no organizational skills whatsoever.

Step 1: Put away your food. If you eat meat, freeze anything that you don’t plan to use today.

Step 2: Train the other members of your household to check off items on the receipts as they eat them or use them in cooking.

Step 3: Learn to look over the receipts to take informal inventory of what you have, especially for refrigerated items. This will make you less likely to shove something to the back of the fridge and forget about it.

Step 4: When you notice that the receipts are filled with check marks, it might be time to go shopping. Or not: check your handy instant inventory devices!

The back-and-forth legal fight between Apple and its current nemesis Samsung isn’t a cheap one: All that litigating and finger pointing has cost Apple about $60 million so far.

The big number was revealed in legal documents Apple filed yesterday because the company needs to pay its bills, it seems, and wants Samsung to start chipping in to cover those costs, reports Reuters.

Apple’s asking the judge in charge of the case to get Samsung to pay $15.7 million of its total legal costs.

“Awarding fees to Apple ‘flows quite naturally’ from the jury’s willfulness verdict as well as Samsung’s extensive record of willful, deliberate, and calculated decisions to copy the iPhone, in blatant disregard for Apple’s IP,” Apple’s attorneys said in its filing.

It also added in the documents that it’s already shelled out a whole lot of dough to outside law firms through last month, which doesn’t include other lawyers who have billed less than $100,000 on the case.

So now we all now what it costs to have a fight with another ginormous company that makes billions of dollars. My fights usually cost me just a bit of red-facedness and an awkward apology later. Much easier.

If we posted every ridiculous or terrible ad that popped up on Facebook, we’d have no pixels left to post anything else. But Patrick encountered this ad for TASER flashlights that is simultaneously strange and scaremongering, and features a balaclava-clad man in a Santa hat meant to scare Facebookers into ordering a handy stun gun flashlight.

“Not sure which is worse, the fact they reminded me Santa isn’t real or they’re going the ADT advertising route…” It could be that Santa is real, and this baddie is only impersonating him, so no one is ruling out that Santa is real and gets his mail in Alaska.

By “ADT advertising route,” Patrick means using the fear that all people have of mysterious bad guys. A stun gun is a powerful self-defense tool, one that probably shouldn’t be in the hands of someone with no training or who hasn’t at least read the five pages of warnings that come with the Strikelight.

While most of us try to cram as much as we can into our carry-on bags — and some travelers (you know who you are) stretch the definition of “carry-on” with bags that would have been checked in the pre-fee era — sometimes you just have to check a piece of luggage or two at the counter. But before you do, there are some steps you’ll want to take.

In addition to making sure your bag isn’t a toss or bump away from falling to pieces, you’ll want to remove all those checked-bag tags from previous flights. Yeah, you won’t look like the seasoned traveler you are, and you’ll have to say goodbye to that fantasy of the good-looking person behind you in line going, “You’ve been to Rio? Me too! We should make out,” or however that goes, but it also gives the baggage handlers and tracking system one fewer thing that could send your luggage to destinations unknown.

You’ll also want to put labels on both the inside and outside of your luggage. Okay, so maybe that sounds a bit like writing your name in your underwear, but if you regularly tossed your undies into a pile with thousands of other folks’ delicates, you’d want your name written all over the place on your pair — assuming you want them back. So it makes sense that you’d want that redundant label inside your bag just in case that exterior tag goes missing.

Here’s one we hadn’t heard before: If you have a zipper suitcase, line the zipper pulls up on the top of your bag, slightly off center.

“This position keeps them out of the way of the handles and out of the way of the bottom and sides, which are most likely to be brushed or banged up against other bags or machinery,” explains Jaunted.

As the story mentions, you could also put a small lock on the pulls to keep them from coming apart (or being easily used by a sticky-fingered airport employee).

Speaking of which, one thing we didn’t see in the Jaunted list was the suggestion to remove all valuables and essentials. This might seem like common sense to you, but most of the checked-bag crime we hear about involves travelers who put things like laptops, tablets, cash, and jewelry in their checked bags. These things should be put in a carry-on bag.

Additionally, you’ll want to remove things you will absolutely need if that checked bag goes missing or you don’t have access to it because of long flight delays. We’ve heard countless complaints over the years from travelers who were without needed medicines, baby supplies, and travel documents because they had put these in a checked bag that went missing.

Santa Claus is real, so that’s not up for debate. But because he is kind of devoted to email these days instead of old-fashioned letter writing, the United States Postal Service has decided to help out to make sure your kid can send a letter to Santa and get a personal snailmail response from the North Pole.

In the time leading up to Christmas, the USPS is offering a program where children can write a letter to Santa and include all the wooden trains, yo-yos and whatever other toys kids like these days, then send it off like a normal letter.

Of course there are steps to follow to make sure the letter gets where it needs to go:

1. Write a personalized letter to a child from Santa Claus and sign it “From Santa.”

2. Insert the letter into an envelope and address it to the child.

3. Add the return address: “SANTA, NORTH POLE” to the envelope.

4. Ensure a First-Class stamp is affixed to the envelope.

5. Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope, with appropriate postage, and address it to:

NORTH POLE POSTMARK POSTMASTER

4141 POSTMARK DR.

ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998

6. Santa’s helpers in Anchorage, AK, will take care of the rest!

If you want your letter to get to Santa on time, it’s got to be mailed to Anchorage no later than Dec. 10. Plenty of time to put together a list of checkers, spinning tops and a new pair of fuzzy red socks.

As part of Sears’ exciting new plan of ditching any businesses that consumers actually like, the company announced today that it will be spinning off Lands’ End. The catalog company, which sells decent-quality clothing for middle-aged people, has been part of Sears since 2001. Instead of selling off the business, Sears plans to spin it off as its own entity, as it did with Sears Outlet and Hometown stores last year.

The twelve years that Lands’ End and Sears have been together have been huge years of change in retail and for Sears. The acquisition predates the Sears-Kmart merger, and seemed like a great match at the time. Some experts speculate that the company is one of the most profitable parts of Sears Holdings Corporation.

On the other hand, separating the companies would mean that online and catalog shoppers can no longer return unwanted items to Sears stores, which has long been part of the appeal of shopping at Lands’ End…and the only reason why many Consumerist readers visit Sears at all. (The rest are paying their Discover bills, maybe.)

Analysts suspect that Sears might be spinning or selling off the profitable parts of the company, like Lands’ End, the outlet stores, and the Auto Centers are currently on the market. Next up could be the Kenmore appliances and Craftsman tools proprietary brands, as well as some of the valuable real estate that some Sears stores sit on.

Introducing the new Xbox One Special Paper Edition… only $750 on eBay!

It’s a truism as old as time: Wherever there are people willing to pay a ton of money for a new video game console, there will be scammers willing to take that money and leave them empty-handed. Well, not technically empty-handed in this case, as the customer did get a photo of an Xbox One for his $750.

“I’ve had to make a joke out of it because I was that angry,” says the 19-year-old from Nottingham, UK, who paid £450 ($749) to a seller on eBay. “At least we’ve now got something to laugh about in the years to come.”

The young man says he’s an experienced eBay buyer and this is the first time he’s been duped.

In the seller’s defense, the buyer admits the listing did say it was a “photo” of the console, but he tells the Nottingham Post he assumed it was the real deal because it was listed under the heading of video games and consoles. He also says there was no negative feedback for the seller.

So either this was the first time the seller pulled this alleged trick on a customer, or his buyers appreciated the level of customer service.

After all, the seller did leave a “Thank you for your purchase” note on the back of the photo.

The buyer contested the purchase with eBay, which has given the seller until Monday to issue a full refund.

To anyone out there tempted to pay top dollar for a Xbox One or PS4 on eBay or other secondary market site… don’t. They will be back on store shelves shortly and there are only a very few games available to play on either console, and most of those games are available on current generation consoles. You can spend hundreds of dollars over list price to get an Xbox One or PS4 right now… and then sit around for months waiting for decent games to come out, or you can just wait and save yourself a lot of cash.

You might recall the sheer pants debacle from last year when Lululemon customers were finding that when they bent over in their pricy pants, anyone looking could see right through the fabric to their private bits. But Lululemon says that a securities fraud lawsuit makes it seem like the company knew about that defect and just hoped no one would notice, which is not true, according to the company.

Lululemon’s Chief Executive Christine Day wrote in a filing this week that the company didn’t attempt to cover anything up (well, yeah, that was the pants’ problem) and never intended to sell hundreds of thousands of the sheer pants with consumers none the wiser, reports Reuters.

She says the company “disclosed in real time” that it was trying to recall and fix the issue with pants that had luon fabric, as soon as reports started surfacing that the pants were showing what they shouldn’t.

Shareholders, however, have accused the company of trying to cover up the defects, as well as hiding plans to replace Day. She announced she was leaving on June 10 (but is staying on while a successor is hired), kicking the company’ share price with a 17.5% drop in the process.

In addition to holiday decorations, which many retailers will try to clear as Christmas nears, the folks at Offers.com say the following three typical holiday season purchases will likely drop in price the closer we get to the holiday.

1. Winter Apparel: Many consumers bought their winter coats and sweaters back in the fall and stores will soon be putting out warmer weather apparel, so get these items cheap while it’s still cold outside.

2. Toys: Sure, a (sadly) traditional image of holiday shopping is parents fighting over coveted toys during the Black Friday shopping blitz, but there are still plenty of toys remaining on store shelves, and their prices will likely sink as retailers try to sell as much inventory as possible. There is still the risk that waiting too long will result in that toy being snatched up by a less bargain-conscious shopper.

3. Small Appliances: The holidays are a time during which many of us express our affection for loved ones by buying them blenders, food processors, and stand mixers. These products make for good gifts, but they also tend to take up a lot of shelf/warehouse space. So some retailers will drop prices on small appliances right before Christmas, as it’s both a good way to attract last-minute shoppers and get rid of products that may not sell as quickly once the new year hits.

A pretty common reaction to someone stealing your tips that you’ve worked hard to earn might be, “Grr, that person stinks and I do not like him. Call the authorities!” But instead, workers at a coffee shop near Cleveland started a food drive after a man was caught on camera pilfering from their tip jar.

“He stuck his hand straight into the tip jar and took out as much as he could get and walked out like nothing happened,” the manager tells WKYC.com (warning: link has auto-play video) of the video surveillance. But instead of getting mad, the workers decided to get helpful.

“We assume that if he was desperate enough to steal tips, he’s probably in desperate times,” the manager explains.

The workers decided not to press chargers or even call the cops about the incident, and instead have turned the whole thing into an act of generosity by starting a food drive for the man at both the coffee shop’s locations.

The only problem is that they don’t know who the man is. If he comes forward, he’ll get the food they’ve collected with no questions asked.

That idea has some people on their Facebook page saying it’s a bad idea to reward a thief. That’s not going to stop the food drive, however.

“It definitely started a discourse. We are trying to show awareness that people are going through hard times,” the manager says, adding that if he sees these stories and comes back to the coffee shop, they’d “love” to have him back.

Last night, the company posted a statement on its website, saying it has suspended its health-related genetic tests “to comply with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s directive to discontinue new consumer access during our regulatory review process.”

The FDA said that 23andMe’s marketing of the kits for the purpose of diagnosing genetic disorders and disease made the product a regulated medical device under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). Claiming the company had failed to meet deadlines for turning over documentation related to the required review process, it ordered 23andMe to stop marketing this aspect of the kits as of Nov. 22.

“We are continuing to provide you with both ancestry-related genetic tests and raw genetic data, without 23andMe’s interpretation,” reads the statement from the company. “If you are a customer who purchased before November 22, 2013, you will still have access to your health-related results.”

Existing 23andMe customers who go the site are being asked to acknowledge the following statement before clicking through to the main part of the site:

“I understand that 23andMe only sells ancestry reports and raw genetic data at this time. I understand 23andMe will not provide health-related reports. However, 23andMe may provide health-related results in the future, dependent upon FDA marketing authorization.”

Those who received health-related results prior to Nov. 22, 2013 will continue to have access to that information, explains the company. “However, no new health-related updates will be provided to your account.”

And those who purchased their kits before the Nov. 22 date but had not yet received results will still receive the results of the health-related tests.

Anyone who purchased the kit on or after Nov. 22, will be limited to receiving ancestry information and raw genetic data.

“These new customers may receive additional health-related results in the future, dependent upon FDA marketing authorization,” reads the site. “Customers who purchased kits on or after November 22, 2013 will be eligible for a refund.”

The company says it will be contacting eligible customers via e-mail.

This is certainly not the end of the road for the company, as it has made clear in the wake of the FDA cease-and-desist that it intends to continue working with the regulator to prove the accuracy of its product.

Given a shared history of treating subscribers like ATMs and of taking the “do the least” approach to customer service, it almost made sense last month when the merger rumor mill went into overdrive with reports that Comcast was looking to acquire Time Warner Cable. But the odds of this marriage being blessed by regulators seem pretty slim.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who was not a member of the Commission when it idiotically approved Comcast’s purchase of NBC, tells the Wall Street Journal that it’s unlikely a merger between the two largest terrestrial cable and Internet service providers in the country would be approved.

“The Obama administration has applied greater scrutiny to proposed mergers and acquisitions,” he explained. “Precedents like this suggest an outright acquisition by Comcast of Time Warner Cable could face a number of hurdles in the Obama administration… A Republican administration likely would be more inclined to approve a deal.”

Any merger involving two cable companies of this size would require the go-ahead from both the FCC and the Justice Department, which would consider the antitrust implications of such massive consolidation.

A combined Comcast/TWC would end up with around 33% of the country’s pay-TV market, according to some estimates. It would control an even larger portion of the high-speed Internet market.

One could argue that a merged TWC and Comcast would not actually have any notable impact on competition in the cable marketplace, as there is already virtually no competition in the terrestrial cable business. Unless they switch to satellite or have the option of a competing fiber network, most consumers’ cable company choice is determined by their address. Of course, those who choose satellite will still likely need the cable provider if they want to get broadband service for their homes.

This year’s metallic novelty is a laser-etched, rose-colored metal with the same price tag as last year, $450, reports the Chicago Tribune.

It comes loaded with $400 worth of credit and automatic enrollment in My Starbucks Rewards Gold-level status. That means free treats on your birthday and a 15% off coupon at StarbuckStore.com, free refills on iced or brewed coffee and tea, other special offers and a free drink or food item with every 12 stars.

The other $50 is likely just the cost of the actual metal card, because rose-colored metal doesn’t come free, no siree.

The cards are limited in number again as well, with only 1,000 up for grabs on Gilt.com starting today at noon ET. If you’ve got $450 to spare (perhaps for your pool cleaner’s tip?) get your trigger finger ready.

Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Want to see your pictures on our site? Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

Reader Jen admits that her diet is not perfect, but she does eat some vegetables. She enjoys buying Birdseye microwaveable frozen vegetables, the Steamfresh kind that cook right in the handy bag. Only the company has taken away a precious ounce of veggies by deploying the Grocery Shrink Ray on her veggie pouch of choice.

“The old bags feel full and fluffy at 12 oz (340g) while the new bags are limp and deflated at 10.8 oz (306g),” Jen notes, snapping some pictures to show us the difference.

One might think there’s a line everyone crosses, whether it be a large corporation like say, McDonald’s, or an individual person, where you just know you’re doing it wrong. But Mickey D’s still doesn’t seem to get it, as it’s reportedly issued a helpful guide for the holidays on how its employees — many of which barely subsist on minimum wage — should be tipping their own employees, like the pool cleaner and the au pair.

We’re sure McDonald’s is simply trying to be helpful with its suggestions (which have now been removed from its Employee Resource site after a CNBC report on it) like how much you should be giving your au pair: “A gift from your family (or one week’s pay), plus a small gift from your child” or a nice chunk of “one day’s pay” for a housekeeper and “cost of one cleaning” for a pool cleaner.

The company does add that maybe not everyone has the bucks to tip a pool cleaner (if they can afford one in the first place, right?): “What you give, if anything at all, should be dictated by your relationship with the serviceperson, how often you utilize the services, and most importantly, your budget.”

A McDonald’s spokeswoman responded to CNBC’s report with an emailed statement, saying it’s just etiquette:

“This is content provided by a third-party partner and quotes from one of the best-known etiquette gurus, Emily Post. We continue to review the resource and will ask the vendor to make changes as needed.”